Upland CRP acres available
State-specific, wildlife-targeted CRP programs currently available with competitive rates across the country
From The Outdoor Wire
While a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup hasn’t been scheduled for 2015, farmers and landowners do have current opportunities to explore eligibility in one of the many Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP) practices available. In particular, the State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) portion of CRP has more than 350,000 acres available for enrollment to landowners interested in creating and conserving upland habitat for pheasants, quail and other upland wildlife.
“CRP remains the most expansive, impactful conservation program in the country. Historically, landowners have looked to a general signup and its competitive bid process to enroll in the program. But landowners should consider SAFE acres, as well as other continuous programs, as valuable additions to existing contracts,” says Dave Nomsen, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s vice president of government affairs. “CRP SAFE practices are the best thing going for pheasant and quail habitat creation. The programs are open until allocations are reached and they pay competitive rates. If landowners have an expiring CRP general contract, SAFE practices – or one of the other continuous CRP practices – are something they should strongly consider.”
Created nearly a decade ago, SAFE practices allowed states to design CRP practices that maintained the program’s hallmark soil and water conservation benefits while targeting specific wildlife species. Because of continued, and in some cases, rapid upland habitat loss, many states tailored their programs to benefit pheasants and quail. The nationwide SAFE allocation is 1.35 million acres. There are nearly 1 million acres enrolled in the various 100 SAFE practices across the country, leaving more than 350,000 available to landowners for enrollment. Among the SAFE practices geared specifically or primarily to the creation of pheasant and quail habitat include:
State SAFE Practice Acres Available for Enrollment*
Arkansas Grass SAFE (quail) 803
Iowa Pheasant Recovery 22,524
Kansas Upland Game Birds 8,569
Missouri Bobwhite Quail 532
Nebraska Upland Bird 14,910
Oklahoma Mixed Grass Prairies (quail) 8,081
South Dakota Pheasants 14,432
*Statistics updated in January 2015 / Source: USDA
Continuous CRP Signup
Environmentally desirable land devoted to certain conservation practices may be enrolled in CRP at any time under continuous signup. Offers are automatically accepted provided the land and producer meet certain eligibility requirements and acres are available. Offers for continuous sign-up are not subject to competitive bidding. Continuous sign-up contracts are 10 to 15 years in duration. To offer land for continuous signup, producers or landowners should contact their Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever Farm Bill wildlife biologist or visit their local USDA Service Center.